Career Journal: A Better Workplace for People with Disabilities

Even the educated and qualified disabled are forced by infrastructure to be confined at homes, says Sminu Jindal.

Like every other working mom, my typical work day begins in the wee hours to get my children ready for school before I head to work. There, I often have to rush for meetings from one department to the other, all on my wheelchair.

Oh yes, I am paraplegic.

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But I am able to manage a work schedule like everyone else because my organization is sensitive toward the needs of people with reduced mobility. Unfortunately, this is a rare thing in India.

For the most part, India Inc. has ignored disabled people as a viable workforce.

A handful of industries, like education (both schools and colleges), and some types of government jobs reserve a small percentage of seats for the differently-abled, but these often go unclaimed.

That’s because the infrastructure in our offices is rarely equipped to the needs of the disabled. Many office buildings don’t have ramps to provide easy access to the disabled, and separate toilets that are fit for a person in a wheelchair. Most offices don’t have adequate signs that can help the hearing-impaired.

Around 70 million people in India have disabilities, according to a study by India’s National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. But only 100,000 of these disabled have found employment in India, says the report.

Even the educated and qualified disabled are forced by infrastructure to be confined at homes. At a time when Indian companies are facing a shortage of skilled talent, they cannot afford to ignore this potential workforce.

The major impediment to hiring disabled people is skepticism. Recruiters worry about the working abilities of disabled people, even when they have professional training or degrees. They worry about whether the person will be able to adjust to the work environment, of if the existing staff will be able to deal with the disabled.

They forget that Franklin Roosevelt was American’s president for more than a decade despite being crippled by polio, and Ray Charles made the world sway to his rhythm despite being blind.

Some organizations are already making efforts to hire people with disabilities. They include companies in the service industry like Café Coffee Day and Costa Coffee. They have a policy to hire people with disabilities and train them to have better productivity.

Mumbai’s Mirakle Couriers is a rare organization that employs only hearing-impaired people. Some companies in the information-technology sector allow the disabled staff to work from home.

More companies need to follow in their footsteps. They need to remove all barriers – perceptual and physical – that prevent the disabled from joining the workforce. To start, companies need to create an inclusive environment at the workplace by educating the rest of the employees on how to relate to disabled people. They need to understand that they are just as capable in the workplace as people with no disabilities.

Disability management should be put into practice in all aspects of recruitment, selection and employment, including performance. Another key measure is for companies to provide appropriate physical infrastructure for easy mobility for the handicapped. These should include ramps, accessible cafeterias and rest rooms and so on. Some organizations provide additional resources like modified keyboards, special software and gadgets based on specific needs.

Contrary to what people presume, this does not involve large additional costs. When possible, it is better to create buildings that are disabled-friendly from the start and save on modifying them later. But when we can make a heritage site like the Qutub Minar that is hundreds of years old accessible to all, making corporate industry accessible should not be an impossible task.

Sminu Jindal is managing director of pipe-maker Jindal Saw Ltd., part of the O.P. Jindal group of companies

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